


One-handed

by iloveitblue



Series: Prompts [73]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M, a lil bit of angst, more on fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-04
Updated: 2015-02-24
Packaged: 2018-02-11 18:05:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2077926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iloveitblue/pseuds/iloveitblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The one where Clint loses an arm.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

There was a bomb.

and a child.

What was he supposed to do? 

Escape? Of course not. Not when he knows he could save someone. 

The bomb had detonated and the building started to crumble above them. Clint had to move fast. 

Everything happened in a flash that when Clint woke up, woozy from the drugs, he had to ask three times what had happened. 

They spare him the sugarcoating and that’s when he notices the missing limb. His whole left arm was gone. 

"The kid. What happened to the kid?" He asked instead.

"He’s safe, Clint. You saved him. He got out with minor scrapes and bruises." Steve told him. 

Clint sighed in relief. He knows he should be panicking, and truthfully, he was. Internally panicking, because he’s never fucked up this bad before. He lost an arm because he wasn’t fast enough. This was his own fault. 

But the kid was safe. He managed to save him, and that, above feeling panic and misery made him feel at ease.

"You did really good job out there." Tony said to him. 

"Thanks, but we all know I screwed up bad. You don’t need to try and make me feel better." Clint gave him a wry smile.

Tony scrunched his eyebrows. “I’m not though. You were really brave out there. You saved that kid, despite the fact that you could’ve died.”

"I did what any of you would’ve done. That’s it. There’s nothing special about what I did. The difference between me and all you guys is that Steve and Natasha would’ve been fast and smart enough to get out of that building before it collapsed. Tony and Thor would’ve flown out of there with minutes to spare. The Hulk wouldn’t at all be crushed at all, or at least that’s what I think. As for me, well… I ran straight into the line of fire with blind bravery, and now… well, now I’m more useless than I was before." Clint ran a hand through his hair. 

They were all silent until the door creaked open and Phil walked in. A smile on his face when he saw that Clint was awake. 

"Hey." Phil said, but didn’t move.

"Hi." Clint smiled back.

"How’re you feeling?" 

"A little woozy from the drugs but better, all things considered."

"Better enough for a visitor?" Clint’s brows pinched at that. Visitor? All the Avengers were here, and highly doubts that any of the SHIELD superiors would visit him. 

"Uh… Sure? I guess." Phil smiled at him before he went out again and a few moments later came back in with a little boy, around 3 or 4 years old, holding his hand. Clint didn’t know what to say. "Uhm… Phil? Do we need to talk?" Clint asked him. 

Phil rolled his eyes at him and bent down so that he was eye-level with the child. “Do you wanna go say hi to Hawkeye, Joshua?” 

The little boy looked at him, then at Clint, then back to Phil before he nodded. Phil grinned at him and held his hand again, leading the little boy to the cot. 

"Hi." Clint greeted the little stranger. 

"Hi…" The boy answered him quietly. 

"My name is Clint. What’s your name?" Clint tried.

“‘oshua…” 

"Don’t you have to give Clint something?" Phil asked the boy and Clint looked up at his husband and raised an eyebrow. 

The little boy nodded and pulled a piece of folded paper from his pocket and raising both his arms to Phil in a universal sign of ‘Pick me up’, and Phil did just that. He picked up the boy and scooted closer to Clint, so that Joshua could give him the piece of paper. 

"Thank you." Clint said, and Joshua hid his face in Phil’s lapel. Clint slowly unfolded the paper to find a crudely drawn picture of the Avengers starring Hawkeye, holding a little boy’s hand which he assumed was Joshua. And all across the paper, A child’s messy albeit colorful handwriting said: Thank you for saeving me, HawkI. It was the most beautiful gift Clint got.

"Do you wanna sit beside me, Joshua?" Clint asked him after a while. 

Joshua looked to Phil, who only smiled before he nodded his head and Phil put the child beside Clint. Clint scooched a little farther in the cot so that Joshua would have some space. Clint smiled at the child. “It’s a really pretty drawing. Did you make it yourself?”

Joshua shook his head. “Phil ‘elped me pick out colors. ‘e says you like Purple.”

"That’s right. It’s my favorite color." 

"Mine is Yel’w"

"That’s a pretty color too." 

"Does’t hur’?" Joshua asked, when he noticed how Clint was all bandaged up.

"Not anymore. Your drawing made me feel all better."

Joshua perked up at that. “I gots’ more pap’r. Y’wanna color w’th me?”

"Sure. That sounds fun."

Soon after, the Avengers took turns watching over Clint and Joshua while they colored, and drew, and wrote. Phil never left the room though. Always beside Clint and sometimes commenting on Clint’s scrawl saying that Joshua had better handwriting than him. Clint pouted and Joshua giggled. Clint then looked at Phil and mouthed at him  _'I want one.'_ Phil simply smiled.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Joshua isn't here, sorry loves.

The first time the Avengers were deployed without Hawkeye, the mission went as smoothly as any other. So did their second, and third, and fourth…

Which only reinforced Clint’s belief that Hawkeye wasn’t even needed in the initiative. He isn’t the leader type like Cap. He isn’t a billionaire genius like Iron Man. He isn’t a nordic god like Thor. He isn’t indestructible like Hulk. He isn’t as fast like the Black Widow. All Hawkeye has is his arrows… and now he can’t even use those. His only asset, gone.

But the Avengers were too nice to kick him out of the tower. Too nice to admit that he was now even more useless than he was before. So while the rest of the Avengers were away on a mission, Clint decided to gather his things and leave. He’d left a message for Phil so that he knew how to find him later but for now, he had to go.

"I highly discourage this course of action, Master Barton." JARVIS told him when Clint was in the elevator.

Clint didn’t answer him. Just heaved the duffel bag farther up his shoulder and made his way out when the elevator doors opened. 

—-

Clint was cleaning out the small farm house when there was a knock on the door. He wondered who it could have been since Phil just left for the town to get them some food for the week.

They’d found this place a little way back while on a mission and decided this was going to be where they were going to spend the rest of their lives with each other. Cliched as it was, it made them both look forward to what was left of their lives.

The knocking grew louder and more incessant. “Okay, okay. Hold your horses, Phil. I’m he-” It wasn’t Phil.

"Clinton!" Thor bellowed as the door was shut in his and the other Avengers’ faces.

"Clint! You better open this door or I will not be responsible for the damage that Captain America unleashes on this door!" Tony said from behind the door. That made Clint raise an eyebrow in wonder. "Okay! I’ve just been told that Steve refuses to unleash damage on the door, so I’ll let the Hulk-"

"Thor! Don’t scare the chickens!" Steve yelled from beside Tony.

At that, Clint swung the door open and raced to the front porch. “Thor, I swear to your father I will destroy you if so much as touch Tony!” 

Steve, Tony, Bruce and Natasha looked at each other before they stared at Clint’s back.

"I’m flattered? But I’m a big boy Barton. I think I can handle myself." 

"Not you, Asshat. The chicken." Clint glared at Tony. 

"You named a chicken after me?" Tony asked.

"He named a chicken after all of you." Phil said from behind all of them. "He seems to find it hilarious." 

"This is a magnificent beast! What do you call it? and may I ride it?" 

Clint sighed at the sight of Thor trying to ride Fury the cow. “What- What are you all doing here anyway?”

"We were looking for you." Steve told him. "You were suddenly gone, we thought something happened to you. We got so worried. Good thing, Phil called us."

Clint shot Phil a dirty glare and sighed. “Well, as you can see, I’m fine. Now, I don’t mean to be rude, but please leave.”

"What? We came to bring you back." Bruce told him.

"What for?"

"You’re an Avenger, Clint. Nice as this is, we need you on the team." Natasha explained.

"We all know that’s not true."

"What?" 

"You all don’t need me. You never did. And now, with the missing limb and all, I’m useless. Way more useless than I was before."

"Clint. That’s not true." Phil spoke up. "You are just as vital to this team as any of the others are." Clint saw Steve nod. 

"Without you, It’s been hell trying to keep a perimeter."

"Plus there’s no one to have our backs without getting in our way." 

"You’re the only one who can shoot a bomb to detonate at a safe distance."

Clint smiled a little. “That’s all fine and dandy. Greatly appreciated and whatnot… but if you haven’t noticed, I’m missing a limb. Kind of important if I want to use a bow again.”

"Ah. But that’s why we’re here." Tony interrupted. "Spangles here brought his blast from the past friend, Chuckie-"

"Bucky."

“Gesundheit. over to the tower and now I have the inner workings of a prosthetic arm. Obviously, it’ll be better than his friends’ arm because I made it, but its going to be just as functional if not more than your real one.” Tony buzzed with excitement.

Clint took in the excited looks of his team mates and Phil’s own smiling one. that face that Clint knew meant that he could choose whatever he wanted and Phil would still be proud of him. 

Clint smiled at all of them. “Thank you Tony. Everyone, really. but I think I’ll stay here. Don’t get me wrong. I love saving the world with you guys. and whenever you need me, I’m just a call away and you’re all welcome to visit and stay here whenever you want to… but I think I’d rather be here, building the rest of my life with Phil. If you don’t mind.”

There was silence between all of them before Natasha gave him a nod and said, “I’m proud of you, Little bird.”

Followed by Bruce’s soft “Please take care of yourself” and Thor’s whoops from where he was riding Fury the cow and ordering it to move.

and Steve’s “At least let Tony get you fixed up with the arm.”

"Yeah, bird brain. Farm work or whatever you do here is bound to be better and easier with two hands than one." Tony teased. 

"Yeah- I- Yes, Tony. I’d like that." Clint answered.

All in all, it was a good day. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here on tumblr


	3. Chapter 3

Clint clenched his hand - his metallic, prosthetic hand - testing out its response time and its flexibility. So far, so good. But Clint didn’t want to end up one day acting like someone from an infomercial - he can hear Tony narrating it now: ‘ _Do you ever feel frustrated when those darn glasses slip out from your grasp and spill its contents on your new white rug? Buy now, for a limited time offer only: A Black Rug!’_

Clint wished it never came to that point.

He pulled the bowstring, along with his arrow, testing his new arm with it. His form felt okay, at least. Not unbalanced and heavier on the left side like he’d expected. He took a deep breath and let the arrow fly. 

It hit dead center on an apple still hanging from a tree, some 15 meters away. 

"Impressive." A voice from behind him said. Clint turned, bow and arrow at the draw only to find a man with an almost identical metal arm as his leaning against one of Clint’s posts. "Tasha was right, you do have excellent aim."

Clint lowered his bow and deposited his arrow back in his hip quiver. “You’re Bucky?”

"Tasha calls me James, but yes. To most, I’m known as Bucky." He smirked at Clint.

"So, must be weird for you, huh. All of this technology stuff?"

"You would think that, but no actually. I’m more concerned about the being brain washed by the bad guys part than the culture shock."

Clint grinned at him. “I like you, Bucky.”

"Thanks, Clinton." Clint made a face at that so Bucky tried again. "Francis?" Clint shook his head. "What then?"

"I’d rather you call me Clint. All my friends do. Except when they want to piss me off, then its Clinton."

"I’ll keep that in mind." Bucky smiled, offering up his hand in a shake. Clint gladly took it. "So, about this farm-"

Bucky got cut off when both the back of their hands started to glow with the Avengers’ symbol. “Um…?” Clint said in response to the glowing.

"I don’t know dude. Stark says he just added a couple of features that I’ll notice when they happen. Guess this is it?"

"Yeah, I get that. But what is it?" Just as Clint said the question, the glowing stopped and a bunch of coordinates appeared in its place. "Guess we’re going to find out."

"Guess we are."

—-

It started out as a one time thing, but that one time thing turned into two and then three and then- well, Bucky and Clint more often than not had to save the Avengers. 

They worked well together. Aside from both receiving unconventional training, they had both excellent aims. Clint was better of course, but that didn’t stop them from playing  _'Who can take out more goons in the time we find the Avengers'._ It was fun too. 

Except of course for that one time they held Phil hostage. Clint had gone wild at the base and Bucky had to knock him out to get him to stop trying to kill everyone that wasn’t a friendly. (They needed the guy for Black Widow’s interrogation.)

But all in all, Bucky and Clint became friends fast. Sharing common interests like one arm jokes and pestering Tony for upgrades and, oh. Saving their asses.

It’s a beautiful friendship if Clint did say so himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #fluff#i guess#sorry I couldn't put in the Joshua is a trap thing#I couldn't think of a good enough scenario where a 3 year old could be used against the Avengers#maybe next time?#forgive me anon#Phlint
> 
> [Here on tumblr](http://promptmephlint.tumblr.com/post/111965020096/my-friends-commandeered-my-room-and-bed-i-dont)

**Author's Note:**

> [Here on tumblr](http://promptmephlint.tumblr.com/post/93778196731/try-channeling-your-hate-to-something-more)


End file.
